Pentecost 20                               Gen. 32:22-31, Luke 18:1-8                               10/17/04

                                                       “And The Winner Is...”           

 

Ding!  Ding!  Ding!  Oh how I remember the sound of the bell and the announcer standing in the middle of the ring saying, “And the winner is...”

 

When I was a child – a bit of a tomboy – I greatly enjoyed watching professional wrestling on TV.  Of course, back then I believed that those “half nelsons”, drop-kicks, helicopter spins and other moves were for real.  And the moans of pain, the claims of revenge match plans and rage sure seemed real too..

 

Wrestling was exciting and the sides were clearly defined.  The bad guys had evil looking costumes and played dirty tricks on the good guys.  The good guys always played fair and used their greater strength and intelligence to win.  Yes, the good guys nearly always won.  Ahhh, those were the good old days of Gorgeous George, Killer Kowalski, Argentina Rocca and The White Lightening.

 

Today’s Old Testament reading may sound about as honest a wrestling match as those I enjoyed as a child.  Jacob was probably already worn down by the long trip back home and the anxiety over how his brother Esau would receive him.  It had been a long day, but it wasn’t over yet.  We are told that after seeing his family across the river safely, Jacob became one of the combatants in a wrestling match.

 

His opponent sounds like one of those 1950’s bad guys.  Just as Jacob seems to be winning, the other wrestler hits him in such a way that Jacob’s hip is put out of joint.

OUCH!  The mysterious wrestler desperately wants to get away before he is recognized.

 

But, here is the important part of the story.  Jacob says, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.”  And the rest, as they say, is history.  The blessing is a name change for Jacob and the proclamation that he has struggled with God and with humans and has prevailed.

In other words, “Ding!  Ding!  Ding!  And the winner is Jacob.”

 

Was this an actual historical event or an allegory about human – the people of Israel’s and our – struggle with God in prayer.  As historical events the story leaves troubling questions.  Does God really play dirty with his people?  Why would He wrestle with Jacob in the first place?  Why pick Jacob anyway?  He hardly seems a very good example or leader for the future people of Israel to follow. 

 

Even without the questions, the story seems to have limited value because it happened so long ago, when life was so very different.  As an allegory though, this story has much to teach us about prayer. 

 

Jacob lived a less than exemplary life.  He cheated his brother out of his inheritance.  He schnookered his uncle (who admittedly wasn’t anyone’s idea of Mr. Integrity) out of two daughters and a sizeable part of his fortune.  Now, he’s returning home and hoping he can talk his way out of trouble again.  But, Jacob has one truly redeeming feature: he doesn’t give up.  He keeps struggling with God until he knows he’s been blessed.

 

This is what prayer is all about.  We face situations that can seem overwhelming at times.  We may develop our own very human plans for how to make life go our way.  Humans have such a need to feel they’re in control and will even scheme, cheat, manipulate and deceive, if necessary, to have that control.  But then, something happens to threaten our plans, change our lives, throw everything into chaos.  Anxiety increases.  We may struggle along to the point of exhaustion.  And then we remember...as a final resort, PRAY.

 

But, God isn’t an indulgent grandpa, just waiting to give us all we want and make us feel good.  God wants a real relationship with us.  So, when we are beaten down and have exhausted our resources, in the dark night of our souls, God grabs us, and the match begins.

 

Sometimes, in such a match it seems God doesn’t play fair.  What we pray for seems reasonable and right: a hopeful diagnosis, a better job that would give our family more security, to meet Mr/Mrs Right and get married, for a lost one to return home, for world or personal peace.

 

I don’t know about you, but I have had some real knock-down, drag-outs with God and still do.  We have gone to the mat over my daughter’s diagnosis when she was a child with symptoms of retardation or brain damage, my destructive marriage, my first call location and how it developed, the health issues of friends and parishioners, interpersonal issues, and much more.

 

I confess that sometimes, unlike Jacob, I feel like giving up.  I get tired of the struggle and the pain of wrestling with God, but thankfully, He always give me the grace and strength to hang on, to not let go without a blessing.

 

Oh, I come out of some of these matches limping.  God doesn’t seem, from a human point of view, to play fair.  But, I also come out of every match strengthened and blessed.

That, I believe, is much of what the match is about.  Learning to hold onto God even when the struggle seems too much strengthens our faith.  God appreciates our engagement with Him.  The Holy Spirit works in and through it to develop our faith muscles.  We struggle and fight to have it our way and just at the right time God throws in a new move that leaves us limping, but teaches us the wisdom of His ways.

 

And then we receive our blessing.  It may be a blessing that was there in the struggle itself.  We may realize that God was there in the struggle with us.  We may finally see the loving look in His eyes as He helps us up out of the dirt.  We may see that He has kept us from the consequences of our wrong thinking.  We may grow in our understanding of who God is for us.  We may perceive the wonder of His grace.

 

The blessing may also be the outcome of our struggle with God.  He may bless us in some more material way: a better job than the one we were sure was what we wanted, a more solid marriage with the true Mr./Mrs. Right or an understanding of the value of singleness for us, an inner healing more profound than a cure of some disease, a new direction or even a whole new life. 

 

All it takes is holding on and looking for the blessing God has for us.  Oh!  And don’t worry about the limp.  It’s a badge of honor that we have seen God face to face, and have survived.  It is a holy reminder that that though God may not play fair, His maneuvers are always in our best interests.  It is a symbol of grace and sign that God has heard and answered our prayers.

 

Yes, God may not play fair, but He is the ultimate Good Guy.  He is like my favorite wrestler, The White Lightening.  He uses all He’s got to win the match, to put his mark of ownership on us and then blaze a new path for us.  Ding!  Ding!  Ding!  And the winner is...          Amen